Venture to the frozen edges of our planet — the polar regions! From the icy Arctic, home to polar bears, to the vast white wilderness of Antarctica, where penguins rule, these ecosystems are as extreme as they are breathtaking. After watching our videos, challenge your students to become ecosystem experts by creating their own colorful report filled with fascinating facts. (They’ll need to dig deeper with extra research, too!) Inside the brochure, students will uncover and share:
- Location of the ecosystem on a world map
- Adjectives that describe the ecosystem
- Three animals that live in the ecosystem
- Three plants that grow in the ecosystem
- The climate of the ecosystem
- What makes the ecosystem important
- Their favorite fun facts
Your students will summarize the most important details in their own words while keeping it clear and easy to understand. As they choose what to include, they’ll sharpen their ability to evaluate and combine information from different sources. Best of all, they’ll show off their creativity and communication skills by designing a brochure that’s as fun to read as it is informative!
Bring your students on an icy exploration of the polar ecosystem! The Arctic and Antarctica may look frozen and empty at first glance, but they’re full of life perfectly adapted to the cold.
✨ Perfect for Grades 3–8, here’s what you need to bring ecosystems to life:
- Iconic BBC Videos: Share the clips on this page to introduce the location, plants, animals, and climate of the polar regions. (Don't miss the narwhals and emperor penguins!) Brought to you by world-class BBC programs like Planet Earth, Frozen Planet, and Seven Worlds, One Planet.
- Free Printable: Use the Polar Brochure Template to help students pull it all together in an ecosystem report with facts they’ve learned (and a little extra research).
It’s everything you need to make ecosystems easy to teach and truly memorable for your students.
Step into the frozen world of the Arctic and meet one of the planet’s most powerful, and vulnerable, predators: the polar bear. This BBC video playlist dives into the daily life of these majestic animals, from caring for playful cubs to navigating treacherous ice in search of food.
Through stunning footage and expert narration, learners will explore how polar bears adapt to extreme cold, hunt for seals, and survive in one of Earth’s harshest environments. Along the way, they’ll also discover how climate change is threatening the polar bear’s icy home, and why protecting it matters.
In Watch Polar Bears After Hibernation, narrator Sir David Attenborough explains how a mother polar bear and her cub hunt after waking up from hibernation. Learn how a mother polar bear tries to find a seal under the ice. Watch a polar bear cub learn and play. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Blue Planet, a definitive documentary series diving into the mysterious depths of the sea to discover the natural history of the world’s oceans and the rarely seen marine life that reside there.
In How Walruses and Polar Bears Survive in the Arctic, narrator Sir David Attenborough shows walruses gathered on low-lying islands, where they nurse their young after giving birth on sea ice. Meanwhile, a male polar bear, weakened after seven days at sea and having lost half his weight over the summer, swims ashore in search of food. However, the massive walruses, the largest seals in the world with tusks over 3 feet (1 meter) long, prove to be a tough challenge. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In Polar Bears Forced to Adapt to the Vanishing Ice, narrator Sir David Attenborough follows a male polar bear whose icy world has disappeared, forcing him to swim in search of food. Female polar bears remain on land with their young, while the male bear searches for a seal on floating ice. The bear dives and maneuvers through chunks of ice, demonstrating remarkable swimming skills. This bear is far from shore, battling ocean currents, and must find land soon to avoid drowning. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In Polar Bear Cubs Face a Challenging First Year, narrator Sir David Attenborough introduces a mother polar bear and her two young cubs as they emerge from their den after five months beneath the snow. The cubs must quickly adapt to their harsh environment, learning to navigate steep slopes and frozen terrain. Their mother, who has not eaten in months, must now guide them across the sea ice to find food before her milk runs dry. As the ice begins to melt, survival becomes even more difficult. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In Polar Bears Emerge During Spring in the Arctic, narrator Sir David Attenborough describes how daylight returns to the Arctic after four months of total darkness. Two polar bear cubs emerge from their den, seeing and hearing the world outside for the first time. Watch as the mother toboggans down a snowy slope and then feeds her hungry cubs. This video is excerpted from BBC's Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In What Happens When Polar Bears Wake Up Hungry?, narrator Sir David Attenborough explains that a mother polar bear must hunt seals before the spring ice melts. However, a blizzard threatens her two young cubs, and the sea ice is a dangerous place for them. This video is excerpted from BBC's Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In Splash! Polar Bear Cubs Take to the Water, host Andy Day follows two polar bear cubs have been walking on ice all winter. Now the ice is melting and it’s time for their first swim! This video is excerpted from BBC’s Andy’s Animal Babies, in which Andy Day explores the lives and experiences of baby animals.
In Polar Bears in Winter, narrator Sir David Attenborough highlights a polar bear waiting through the Arctic winter with little food and in harsh conditions. Nearby, polar bear cubs are born tiny and blind. The polar bear cubs spend the winter cuddled with their mother where they drink milk so rich they can double their weight every few weeks. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Frozen Planet, a series that shows a fragile world of beauty and hostility, where nature finds a way to survive and thrive in frigid conditions.
Venture to the frozen edges of our planet — the polar regions! From the icy Arctic, home to polar bears, to the vast white wilderness of Antarctica, where penguins rule, these ecosystems are as extreme as they are breathtaking. After watching our videos, challenge your students to become ecosystem experts by creating their own colorful report filled with fascinating facts. (They’ll need to dig deeper with extra research, too!) Inside the brochure, students will uncover and share:
- Location of the ecosystem on a world map
- Adjectives that describe the ecosystem
- Three animals that live in the ecosystem
- Three plants that grow in the ecosystem
- The climate of the ecosystem
- What makes the ecosystem important
- Their favorite fun facts
Your students will summarize the most important details in their own words while keeping it clear and easy to understand. As they choose what to include, they’ll sharpen their ability to evaluate and combine information from different sources. Best of all, they’ll show off their creativity and communication skills by designing a brochure that’s as fun to read as it is informative!
Bring your students on an icy exploration of the polar ecosystem! The Arctic and Antarctica may look frozen and empty at first glance, but they’re full of life perfectly adapted to the cold.
✨ Perfect for Grades 3–8, here’s what you need to bring ecosystems to life:
- Iconic BBC Videos: Share the clips on this page to introduce the location, plants, animals, and climate of the polar regions. (Don't miss the narwhals and emperor penguins!) Brought to you by world-class BBC programs like Planet Earth, Frozen Planet, and Seven Worlds, One Planet.
- Free Printable: Use the Polar Brochure Template to help students pull it all together in an ecosystem report with facts they’ve learned (and a little extra research).
It’s everything you need to make ecosystems easy to teach and truly memorable for your students.
Step into the frozen world of the Arctic and meet one of the planet’s most powerful, and vulnerable, predators: the polar bear. This BBC video playlist dives into the daily life of these majestic animals, from caring for playful cubs to navigating treacherous ice in search of food.
Through stunning footage and expert narration, learners will explore how polar bears adapt to extreme cold, hunt for seals, and survive in one of Earth’s harshest environments. Along the way, they’ll also discover how climate change is threatening the polar bear’s icy home, and why protecting it matters.
In Watch Polar Bears After Hibernation, narrator Sir David Attenborough explains how a mother polar bear and her cub hunt after waking up from hibernation. Learn how a mother polar bear tries to find a seal under the ice. Watch a polar bear cub learn and play. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Blue Planet, a definitive documentary series diving into the mysterious depths of the sea to discover the natural history of the world’s oceans and the rarely seen marine life that reside there.
In How Walruses and Polar Bears Survive in the Arctic, narrator Sir David Attenborough shows walruses gathered on low-lying islands, where they nurse their young after giving birth on sea ice. Meanwhile, a male polar bear, weakened after seven days at sea and having lost half his weight over the summer, swims ashore in search of food. However, the massive walruses, the largest seals in the world with tusks over 3 feet (1 meter) long, prove to be a tough challenge. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In Polar Bears Forced to Adapt to the Vanishing Ice, narrator Sir David Attenborough follows a male polar bear whose icy world has disappeared, forcing him to swim in search of food. Female polar bears remain on land with their young, while the male bear searches for a seal on floating ice. The bear dives and maneuvers through chunks of ice, demonstrating remarkable swimming skills. This bear is far from shore, battling ocean currents, and must find land soon to avoid drowning. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In Polar Bear Cubs Face a Challenging First Year, narrator Sir David Attenborough introduces a mother polar bear and her two young cubs as they emerge from their den after five months beneath the snow. The cubs must quickly adapt to their harsh environment, learning to navigate steep slopes and frozen terrain. Their mother, who has not eaten in months, must now guide them across the sea ice to find food before her milk runs dry. As the ice begins to melt, survival becomes even more difficult. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In Polar Bears Emerge During Spring in the Arctic, narrator Sir David Attenborough describes how daylight returns to the Arctic after four months of total darkness. Two polar bear cubs emerge from their den, seeing and hearing the world outside for the first time. Watch as the mother toboggans down a snowy slope and then feeds her hungry cubs. This video is excerpted from BBC's Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In What Happens When Polar Bears Wake Up Hungry?, narrator Sir David Attenborough explains that a mother polar bear must hunt seals before the spring ice melts. However, a blizzard threatens her two young cubs, and the sea ice is a dangerous place for them. This video is excerpted from BBC's Planet Earth, a breathtaking documentary series that highlights the natural wonders of our planet.
In Splash! Polar Bear Cubs Take to the Water, host Andy Day follows two polar bear cubs have been walking on ice all winter. Now the ice is melting and it’s time for their first swim! This video is excerpted from BBC’s Andy’s Animal Babies, in which Andy Day explores the lives and experiences of baby animals.
In Polar Bears in Winter, narrator Sir David Attenborough highlights a polar bear waiting through the Arctic winter with little food and in harsh conditions. Nearby, polar bear cubs are born tiny and blind. The polar bear cubs spend the winter cuddled with their mother where they drink milk so rich they can double their weight every few weeks. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Frozen Planet, a series that shows a fragile world of beauty and hostility, where nature finds a way to survive and thrive in frigid conditions.